Direction-indicator.



C. L. POOR.

DIRECTION INDICATOR.

APPLlcATmN FIL-ED MN. lo, ma.

Patented Dec. y 3l, 1918..

2 SHEETS-SHEE l.

www@

www??? c. L. POOR. nmecnom INDICATOR.

l APPUCATON FILED N, lo, IBIS. LQQSQQ, Patented Dec. 31,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.l

Iber line, ilw nngniur voli,

T 0 zii Iwom ii*- magf coziweff'm; Be it known that i, a citizen of the Uniiecl L course, or upon an irregg eomposed oi' soci-ions of su@ Another objec'r, is to ziiizoina ihe indication of the roiirso of the deviation sailing.

The inveniioi of lolariliniio sp angie between ine senior to ii point on Lilo C I tangent to the curve ai, linie. point con stamt and. ilio saine for every fi '"W curvo, and, Seeonii, the the curve bei? en any uw stent. i length aro. if a along the from a to il sailei is exiioiiy @quai this equality of @innige of .souri-- with the angie ai; tlie sexier under ail coniliiions speed. z ever direction niie ver" the siii-.iii curve rfi inclinati order 'to utilize these prii'ieiplos ami cause a vessei o foilow :i ooiirso corresponding to such spiral Curve, use is marie oif a guiding means for raidingF iiie ves-sei. on tiro spiral course. The, guiiiiiig is preierablv in ille 'forni of :i niiiiinnro course, in the Simp@ oi' i i'ei'olnbin min kening is peripl'ieril fwe repriimie come :ind connecied n'iili the imi?! o compass on board ni iin. i

for rotating lie said fain pass bowl to wry iie 'xofmi iii:

Serial o. @19223.

rniined course and driven in, unison wi'iii ie movement of die vessel over the course.

practical einooiiimont tile invention is represented in the accompanying draw ings forming a part of 4@his specification, in which similar Characters of reference in iiiczie corresponding parts in ali iiie Views.

Figure 1 is :i sectionai side eieifation of automatic steering device; Fig. 2 is a. plan view oi the compa-se;

ig. S isn Sectional, nir-* of the rmtoinoiic sie-erin@ Levico on. die 3--3 of Fig, i;

Fig. i is :i cross section of the seme on ihe lino 4 4 of Fig. l;

5 is a face View of the actueting com9 ighe periplierai edge o .i'ii'iii senis :i spiral Curve which is :i miniature of a spiral. course to be sailed iie vessel;

Eig, 6 2i diagrammatic Jiew of za. poriion of the spiral curve;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic' View of cios/o epiralcurve; and

8 is zi, similar View a, more open curve.

bowl

righi; angie io the :ities of the pivots i5r The pivots i are gonrniiled in suitable bearings i8 arranged. on a immo i9 iii-rovi@i` with ai hollow sliziili QG iiisposed oenrzi oiaiivo 'to the iionl l0 :ind inoiiniefi io ini suiliilwle bearings' arranged on sir-.nains l ai'iz-iciieil io the vessel ai; the @Gini i which the mariners compass is usually located. The shaft Q0 is provided with a bevel gear wheel 25 in mesh with a bevel gear wheel 26 secured on a horizontally disposed shaft Q7 journaled in suitable bearings' arranged on the standard 21 and on a standard Q2 likewise secured on the vessel, On) the shaft 27 is secured a spiral course cam 30. the peripheral edge of which is in the form of a spiral curve representing the, spiral course to bc sailed by the vessel. The spiraledge of the cam 30 is graduated in circular divisions (degrees) and the center of the cam coincides with the center of the, shaft 2T. The cam is rotated in such a manner that its peripheral edge moves in unison with the angul; r rotation which represents at all times the change in course of the vessel moving along a spiral curve at a constant speed.

1n order to rotate the spiral cam 30 as described` various mechanical' means may be employed; for instance, as shown. a cord 85 is attached t0 the outer end of the peripheral edge of the cam 30 andl is passed around the spiral edge and extends from the inner end thereof onto the peripheral edge of a drum 3G, to be wound up thereon on rotating the drum 36 in the direct-ion indicated by the arrow i'n Fig. 1. The cord 35 winds on the drum 3G in a spiral, and owing to the constant relation between the radii and the arc of the spiral curve this spiral Will be uniform. r1`he drum SG is rotated uniformly and hence the spiral earn 3U rotates at a constantly varying speed but in such a way that at every instant the total rotation of the ram is equal to the total change in the course of the vessel moving' in a spiral curve. riihe drum 3G may be driven by suitable gearing from the speed indicator or revoiution counter of the propeller shaft or by clockwork, but in each instance the drum is rotated at such uniform rate that the cord 35 is drawn od at a rate representing the speed of the vesseli lt will be noticed that the cam 30 is geared with the frame 19 of the compass which carries the bowl of the compass, hence the said bowl is rotated in unison with the movement given by the cam 30'to the shaft 27 so that the lubber line 13 is shifted to correspond td the speed of the vessel.

In starting the ship on its course, the lubber line 18 is in normal position, that is, it coincideswith the heading of the ship, and the cord 35 is in contact with the inner end of the peripheral edge of the cam 30. Now presuming that the course of the vessel is north, it will be necessary for the helms man to keep the north point of the compass card 12 always on the lubber line 13, but as the vessel proceeds on its course the bowl 10 is turned, as previously mentioned. and consequently the lubber line 13 is shifted aaeaaca from the right to the left from its normal position. From the foregoing it will be seen that as the helmsman steers the vessel by the lubber line 13 and the position of the latter is varied as above described, it is evident that the ship sails a spiral course represented by the peripheral edge of the cam 30.

The absolute direction in which the north point of a compass card points varies with the direction in which the vessel is headed. This .is the deviation of the compass and by the use of magnets the compass can be .reasonably well adjusted, but the deviation cannot be entirely eradicated by the present known means.' The error or correction for deviation on each specific direction in which the vessel is headed can be determined b v observation and in setting a course this correction must be allowed for. in sailing a spiral curve this. deviation would han; lo be allowed for on the constantly changing course, but in order to do this automaticallv use is made of a mechanical automatic correcting means presently described in detail, 0n the outer gimbal 16 is mounted to turn a ring f1() provided on its upper face with an auxiliary lubber line 41 which moves to the right or to the left of the regular lubber line 13 on turning the ring -10 an amount equal to the deviation (but in opposite direction) on a given course. rl`he helmsman instead of steering by the regular lubber line 13 steers by the auxiliary lubber line i-l and thus the course traveled by the vessel is free from errors incident to the deviation of the compass. I

In order to automatically adjust the lubher line 41 use is made of a second or deviation cam 50 secured on tl e shaft 27 and rotating with the same, a: previously explained. The peripheral face of the deviation cam 50 is such that at e, ch point it will move the adjustable lubber ine ring 10 the proper amount to correct fo` the deviationA The. peripheral face of the deviation cam 50 is engaged by a rod 51 mounted. to slide in bearings 52 and arranged on the support 22, and the said rod 51 is held in contact with the peripheral face of the deviation cam 50 by the use of a spiral springal. To the lower end of the rod 51 is attached one end of a cord or other flexible connection 55 passing under a guide roller v5G journaled on the standard 22, the other end of the iexible connection 55 extending around the peripheral face of a drum 57 and being attached thereto. rlhe drum 54 is secured tin a vertically disposed shaft 58 mountedgina support 59 and extending upward throghfthe hol-` low shaft 20, as plainly indicated in Fig. 1. The lower portion of the shaft 5'8 is con nected with the inner end of a helical spring 60 attached at its outer end to a tixedfpost 61". The upper end of the shaft 58 isprovided.

oz @effecting the 'vessel maling;

1 is mned in @5 is nifesh remi o ih@ connected vfih t eK/m" mts-13 'ian 'eprsentmg he cmnge in come@ of the x alom;

a spiral 'arluve at approximate@ coinsan; 99

sizing '"qvc for mw is, Compu :L mw: -A Um-v* s pmvmcd lis susma Qmg medie and wespen f 2% A dfn: cifm indicating device @mme-1v, com xpM-s eral speed corresponding to the movement of ille vessel over a predetermined course.

ll. A direction indicating device for ma.

rinc and *aerial vessels, comprising a mari.- ners magnetic compass, a cam representing a predetermined search curve, driving means connecting' the said cani with the howl of the said mariner-*s com-pass to rotate the said benl/'and means rotating the cam at a peripheral speed corresponding approximately to the movement of the vessel over a course following the said predetermined search curve.

12. A direction indicating?,T device for ma rine and aerial vessels, comprising a mariners magnetic compass provided with a regular lubber line, a member having an auxiliary lubloer line and movable relative to the said regularllubber line, and automatic means connected with the said auX- iliary lulober li'ne and representing the deviation of the compass for-'a predetermined course of the vessel and driven in unison with the movement of the vessel over the said course.

13. A direction indicating device for ma- .rine and aerial vessels, comprising a mariners magnetic compass provided with a bowl having a fixed lubber line thereon, a lubber line carrier adjacent theI said bowl and provided with an auxiliary lubber line adapted yto move into and out ofregister with the said lubber line fixed on the bowly and driving means for the said carrier and driven in unison with the movement of the vessel over a predetermined course, and controlling means connected with the said driving means and shaped to correspond to the deviation ofthe compass during the movement of the vessel over the predetermined course.

14. A direction indicating device formarine and aerial vessels, comprising a mari-A ot theA bowl, a ring mounted to turn adjacent the rim of the bowl and provided with an auxiliary lubber line for the vessel to be steered by, and means for shifting the said ring in either direction by an amount equal to the deviation of the compass on a prede termined course.

15. A direction indicatingl device for marine and aerial' vessels, comprising a mariners magnetic compass provided with a bowl having a fixed lubber line, a lubber line carrier provided with an auxiliary lubber line and movable on the compass relative to the said lubber line fixed on the bowl, a revoluble spiral course cam, a deviation cam rotating with the said spiral course cam, means connecting the said spiral course cam with the said bowl to rotate the latter, and means connecting` the said deviation cam With thesaid auxiliary lubber -line carrier to rotate it.

16. A direction indicating device for Inarine and aerial vessels, comprising a mariners magnetic compass having a bowl provided With a fixed lubber line, a shaft attached centrally tothe said bowl to rotate the latter, a spiral course cam connected with the said shaft, means for rotating the aid cam, a lubber line ring mounted on the compass and provided with an auxiliary lupber line, a deviation cam rotating in unison with the said spiral course cam, a spring pressed shaft rotated :from the said devia# tion cam and provided with a flexible exten-- sien shaft, and a gearing connecting the said efxible extension shaft with the lnbber line ring.

CHARLES LANE POOR. 

